Safety control handle for air actuated equipment

ABSTRACT

A control handle for air actuated equipment is disclosed which includes means for preventing the control handle from being operated unintentionally as well as &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;dead man&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; safety features. An abrasive blasting system utilizing the control handle of this invention is described.

ACTUATED EQUIPMENT [75] Inventor: Mark W. Cleary, San Francisco,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Clemco-Clementina Ltd., San

Francisco, Calif.

[22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1972 [21] Appl. No.:'22l,623

[52] US. Cl. 251/94 [51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 35/00 [58] Field of Search 251/89[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965,237 7/1934 Hawkins .I.251/94 United States Patent 1 [111 3,740,018 Cleary v [4 June 19, 1973SAFETY CONTROL HANDLE FOR AIR Primary Examiner-Henry T. KlinksiekAttorney-Robert W. Dilts [57] ABSTRACT handle from being operatedunintentionally as well as dead man safety features. An abrasiveblasting system utilizing the control handle of this invention isdescribed. I

10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 9375 SHEET]. BF 2 FIG 4 PA'IENIEDJUN I 9 I975 smanr SAFETY CONTROL HANDLE FOR AIR ACTUATED EQUIPMENTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a control handlefor use in the control system of air actuated equipment, and moreparticularly, to a control handle including means for preventing theunintentional operation of the equipment.

The remote control of high-pressure air actuated equipment through theuse of the high-pressure air it self is known in prior art. In the priorart, normally closed air actuated valves are provided in the equipmentitself and, to control the system, a separate highpressure line extendsfrom the source to a remote point at which a normally closed controlvalve is located. The control valve is manually actuated to pass highpressure air into a line leading to the air actuated valves on theequipment thereby opening such valves and actuating the equipment.

A more sophisticated version of the prior art system is disclosed in US.Pat. No. 3,201,901. As disclosed in this patent, the air actuated valvesin the equipment are designed to be normally open and are closed orturned off" by the application of high-pressure air thereto. In suchsystem an additional normally closed pilot valve is included in theequipment. The pilot valve is connected to the control valve and isdesigned to be actuated (opened) by high-pressure air passed through thecontrol valve upon manual actuation of the control valve. When actuatedby high-pressure air passing through the control valve, the pilot valveexhausts the high pressure air from the air actuated valves on theequipment allowing them to open and thereby actuate the equipment. Inaddition to requiring the use of an additional pilot valve, this systemhas the disadvantage of exhausting air from the high-pressure air sourceto the atmosphere when the equipment is in operation thereby tending toreduce the high-pressure air available for such operation.

The prior art systems were intended to provide a dead man" safetyfeature in that the manually operable control valve located at theremote point is designed to be normally closed when high-pressure air isapplied thereto. Since the control valve located at the remote pointwill therefore automatically close in the absence of manual operation,it was assumed that if the operator became unconscious or disabled, thevalve located at the remote point would automatically close todeactivate the equipment. Unfortunately, it has been found difficult todesign a control valve which can be manually operated for extendedperiods without fatigue and yet will immediately return to its closedposition automatically when not manually operated. Such valves have atendency to stick in their open or operated position under the influenceof the high-pressure air and if appropriate spring or other mechanicalmeans are included to overcome such tendency to stick, then thecontinuous manual operation of the valve becomes more difficult andfatiguing. Furthermore, a control valve that is very easy to operatemanually is also very easy to operate unintentionally.

It is an object of this invention to provide means other than a controlvalve for controlling air actuated equipment from a remote point.

It is another object of this invention to provide a manually operablecontrol handle for controlling air actuated equipment from a remotepoint, which control handle cannot stick in its operated condition.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a control handle forthe operation of air actuated equipment from a remote point, whichcontrol handle cannot be unintentionally operated.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a control handlefor the operation of air actuated equipment from a remote point throughthe use of highpressure air, which control handle cannot beunintentionally operated and yet may be manually operated withoutfatigue and without danger of sticking in its operated condition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The control handle of this invention comprisesa solid body having a first passageway formed therethrough..

Means are provided for connecting high-pressure air to one end of suchfirst passageway. A lever arm is movably mounted on the body andincludes a sealing portion adapted to engage the other end of thepassageway through the body. Spring means are included in the handle formechanically biasing the lever arm so that the sealing portion thereofis out of engagement with the associated end of the first passagewaythrough the body. A second passageway is provided through the body whichintersects the first passageway therethrough and an axially movable pinhaving an enlarged head on one end thereof extends through such secondpassageway for axial movement therein. Retaining means are applied tothe opposite end of the pin from the head thereof to limit the axialmovement of the pin in the passageway to movement between oppositeextremes. At one extreme ofits movement the head of the pin ispositioned to prevent movement of the lever arm to bring the sealingportion thereof into engagement with the associated end of the firstpassageway and at the other extreme of its movement, the head of the pinis positioned to permit such movement of the lever arm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects andfeatures of the subject invention will be more fully understood from areading of the following detailed description thereof in conjunctionwith the appended drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of a control handle in accordancewith one embodiment of this invention with the elements thereof shown intheir normal or non-operated position.

FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the control handle of FIG. 1 withthe elements thereof shown in their operated or manually actuatedposition.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a unit of air actuated industrialequipment, namely, an abrasive blasting unit in connection with whichthe control handle of this invention may be used with advantage.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a control handle in accordance with theteaching of this invention showing a typical mounting of such safetyhandle at a remote location.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the unit of air actuated equipment shownin FIG. 5, but indicating a different arrangement of control lines whichmay be used with a control handle according to the teaching of thisinvention.

. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a control handle in accordance withthe teaching of this invention mounted together with a suitable adapterfor use in the system of FIG. 7 at a remote location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that acontrol handle in accordance with the teaching of this inventioncomprises a solid body 10 formed to provide a passageway 11therethrough. According to the embodiment of the invention as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the passageway 11 is L-shaped and has a first portionextending horizontally from the right-hand side of the body 10 toapproximately the center of the body 10 and a second portion extendingvertically from the center to the top of the body 10. The end of thepassageway at the right-hand side of the body 10 is provided withappropriate means 12'including screw threads, for example, connecting ahigh-pressure air source (not shown) to the passageway 11. The other end13 of the passageway 11 may be provided with an appropriate sealingmeans 14 for plugging or sealing the passageway 11 against the escape ofhigh-pressure air therefrom.

The sealing means 14 is carried by an appropriate lever arm 15 movablymounted on the body 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the end of the leverarm 15 adjacent the sealing means 14 may be pivotally mounted on thebody 10 by means of an appropriate pin 16 pass ing through the lever arm15 and body 10 and secured at its ends by appropriate retaining means17. The end 18 of the lever arm 15 remote from the pivot pin 16 may beprovided with an appropriate surface for engagement by the human hand inoperating the control handle. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the body 10 maybe secured to an appropriate mounting plate 19 by means of screws 20. Inthis embodiment, a spring means 21 extends between the mounting plate 19and the lever arm 15 and is adapted to urge the lever arm 15 to normallyassume the position shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the manual application of force to the end 18 ofthe lever arm 15 with respect to the .mounting plate 19 will cause thelever arm 15 to rotate about the pivot pin 16 compressing the springmeans 21 and bringing the sealing means 14 carried by the lever arm 15into engagement with the end 13 of the passageway 11 at the top of thebody 10. The engagement of the sealing means 14 with the end 13 of thepassageway 11 at the top of the body 10 will seal the passageway 11 andprevent the escape of high-pressure air from the passageway 11 so longas force is applied to the end 18 of the lever arm 15 with respect tothe mounting plate 19. If the manual application of force to the end 18of the lever arm 15 with respect to the mounting plate 19 is released,the spring means 21, as well as the highpressure air in the passageway11, will urge the lever arm 15 to rotate about the pivot pin 16 therebymoving the sealing means 14 away from the end 13 of the passageway 11 atthe top of the body 10 and allowing highpressure air to escape from thepassageway 11 to the atmosphere.

It will be seen that the presence of high-pressure air in the passageway11 will tend to oppose the manual movement of the lever arm 15 to bringthe sealing means 14 into engagement with the upper end 13 of thepassageway 11. Since the spring means 21 also opposes such movement ofthe lever arm 15, it will be seen that the release of manual pressure onthe end 18 of the lever arm 15 will immediately result in the exhaust ofhigh-pressure air in the passageway 11 to the atmosphere. Furthermore,there are no moving parts, other than the lever arm 15, which couldpossibly stick or bind to thereby result in the retention ofhigh-pressure air within the passageway 11 upon release of manualpressure from the end 18 of the lever arm 15. It will also be seen thatthe mechanical advantage provided by the length of the lever arm 15, andparticularly the spacing of the end 18 thereof to which manual forcesare applied from the pivot point 16, will enable the operation ofthecontrol handle through the application of relatively small forces. Thusthe manual application of such forces to the end 18 of the lever arm 15will not tend to be fatiguing to the operator of the handle.

However, the very fact that only a small amount of manual force isrequired to operate the control handle may result in the unintentionaloperation of such control handle. In fact, if the control handle is notpermanently mounted but rather is adapted to be freely moved from oneposition to another, then there is the possibility that if the controlhandle is merely allowed to rest on a supporting surface in an invertedposition from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, then the weight of thecontrol handle itself might result in the operation thereof. This isparticularly true where the control han dle is mounted on the end of aflexible hose such as that used in sand blasting equipment, since theweight of the hose will also be available to assist in theinadvertentoperation of the control handle.

To avoid such unintentional inadvertent operation of the control handleaccording to this invention, a safety button 25 is mounted inthe body 10in such a way as to prevent movement of the lever arm 15 to bring thesealing means into engagement with end 13 of passageway 11 unless thesafety button 25 is manually moved with respect to the body 10.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be seen that the safetybutton 25 according to the teaching of this invention, comprises theenlarged head 25a of a pin 26 received in a passageway formed in thebody 10 transversely of the passageway l l. The pin 26 is axiallymovable in the passageway 27 and may be held therein by a retainer ring28 affixed to the opposite end of the pin 26 from the head 25a. As shownin FIGS. 3 and 4, the passageway 27 may be countersunk adjacent theenlarged head 25a so that such enlarged head 25a may be received withinthe body 10. As also shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the enlarged head 25a maybe provided with a portion of reduced cross-section which is in turnprovided with a gasket means 29 adapted to provide a seal between thereduced portion of the enlarged head 25a and the passageway 27 when theenlarged head 25a is received within the body 10. According to thisembodiment of the invention, the passageway 27 intersects the passageway11 so that any high-pressure air present in passageway 11 is alsopresent in passageway 27.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, when the lever arm 15 is in the positionshown in FIG. 1, then the air-pressure present in passageways 11 and 27will act against the enlarged head 25a of the pin 26 causing suchenlarged head 25a to project from the body 10. Since the enlarged head25a is located directly below the lever arm 15, it will be in a positionto prevent the lever arm 15 from being rotated about the pivot pin 16toward the mounting plate 19 by engagement between the lever arm 15 andthe outer periphery of the enlarged head 25a or safety button 25. Thus,in order to operate the control, the safety button 25 comprising theenlarged head 25a of the pin 26 must first be pushed into the body bymanual pressure exerted by the fingers, for example. The amount ofmanual pressure required will be small since the pressurized air presentwithin the passageways 11 and 27 will be exhausted to the atmospherethrough the upper end 13 of the passageway 1 1. Once the safety button25 has been pushed into the body 10, the lever arm 15 may be rotatedabout the pivot pin 16 to the position shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be seen that a portion or flange ofthe lever arm 15 will overlap the safety button 25, holding it in itsposition within the body 10' as shown most clearly in FIG. 4. When thesealing means 14, carried by the lever arm 15, engages the upper end 13of the passageway 11, it will close the passageway 11 to prevent theescape of high-pressure air therefrom and the air pressure inpassageways 11 and 27 will tend to be the same as the pressure of thesource of high-pressure air. It is an important feature of thisinvention that a small amount of air escapes from the passageway 27about the pin 26 at the end thereof adjacent the retaining ring 28,since this will tend to prevent the accumulation of any foreign bodieson the pin 26 which might prevent it from moving freely in passageway27. This is particularly important where the control handle is to beused in conjunction with abrasive blasting equipment, since theenvironment of the control handle in such application will tend to beladen with fine particles of the abrasive which could collect on the pin26 and prevent the free movement thereof in passageway 27.

When the force applied to the end 18 of the lever arm 15 is released,the air pressure in passageways 11 and 27 and the spring 21 will causethe lever arm 15 and safety button 25 to return to the positions shownin FIG. 1. The air passing through the passageway 11 from the source at12 to the atmosphere at 13 will result in a small air pressure withinthe passageway 27. As men-.

tioned above, such air pressure within the passageway 27 will exert asmall force on the enlarged head 25a of pin 26 causing it toautomatically return to the position shown in FIG. 3 when the lever armreturns to the position shown in FIG. 1. The gasket 29, if used, shouldallow the escape of air about the head 25a, at least in the positionthereof shown in FIG. 3, in order to prevent the accumulation of foreignbodies thereon as discussed above in connection with the other end ofpin 26. The enlarged head 25a not only limits movement of the pin 26 inone axial direction in passageway 27 but also insures that the forceexerted on the pin 26 by the air pressure in the passageway 27 will beunbalanced in such a way as to cause the head 25a of pin 26 to projectfrom the body 10.

Finally, the enlarged head 25a provides a large peripheral surface forengagement by the flange on the lever arm 15 and insures adequatestrength to resist any amount of force applied to lever arm 15. It willbe understood that a spring means, not shown, might be used to urge thepin 26 to move in the axial direction within passageway 27, which wouldcause the head 25a thereof to project from body 10. However, this hasbeen found to be unnecessary in the embodiment shown and describedabove.

Referring to FIG. 5, a unit of air actuated abrasive blasting equipmentwith which the control handle of this invention may be used toparticular advantage is shown. Such unit comprises a container 30 inwhich a supply of abrasive material is sealed. An outlet valve 31 at thebottom of the container 30 is adapted to feed the abrasive material fromthe container 30 into a mixing chamber 32 under operating conditions.Both the container 30 and the mixing chamber 32 are connected to oneside ofa normally closed air actuated inlet valve 33 by appropriatepipes 34 and 35.. A source of highpressure air (now shown) is connectedto the other side of the inlet valve 33 at coupling 36. A portion of thehigh-pressure air supplied to inlet valve 33 at coupling 34 is conductedto the air actuation chamber 37 ofinlet valve 33 by means of controlpipe 38.

A normally open air actuated vent valve 40 is connected to container 30by an appropriate pipe 41. The outlet 42 of vent valve 40 communicateswith the atmosphere in order to exhaust the air pressure in thecontainer 30 when the unit is not in operation. A control pipe 43conducts air from the air actuation chamber 37 of inlet valve 33 to theair actuation chamber 44 of the vent valve 40.

A remote control air hose 45 is also connected to the air actuationchamber 44 of the vent valve 40 and conducts air to the passageway 11 ofthe body 10 of the control handle, according to the invention as shownin FIG. 6. A blasting hose 46 is connected to the mixing chamber 32 toconduct the abrasive laden highpressure air to a desired remote point ofutilization.

Referring to FIG. 6, the blasting hose 46 may be provided with anappropriate blasting nozzle 47 for manipulation by the operator. Thecontrol handle of this invention is preferably mounted on the blastinghose 46 adjacent the nozzle 47 or by means of mounting bands 48encirclingthe hose 46 and base plate 19 of the con,- trol handle so thatthe end portion 18 of the lever arm 15 is readily accessible to theoperator while he is manipulating the nozzle 47.

It will be understood that high-pressure air from the source willcontinuously escape to the atmosphere through control pipes 38 and 43,control hose 45 and passageway 11 in the body 10 of the control handle,preventing actuation of normally closed inlet valve 33 and normally openvent valve 40. Thus, unless the control handle is manually operated, nohigh-pressure air will be supplied to container 30 or mixing chamber 32through pipes 34 and 35. In order to activate the unit, the operatorpushes in button 25 and applies manual force to the end 18 of the leverarm 15 causing the sealing means 14 to plug the end 13 of passageway 11in the body 10 of the control handle. This causes the air pressure inthe passageway 11, control hose 45 and actuation chambers 37 and 44 toapproach the air pressure supplied thereto from the source ofhigh-pressure air through control pipes 38 and 43. The increase in airpressure in actuation chambers 37 and 44 opens inlet valve 33 and closesvent valve 40, thereby pressurizing container 30 and passinghigh-pressure air from the source through pipe 34 and mixing chamber 32so that abrasive laden high-pressure air is expelled from nozzle 47through hose 46. The release of the manual force on the lever arm 15 ofthe control handle by the operator, either intentionally or due todisability, will immediately release the air pressure in actuatingchambers 37 and 44, deactivating the unit.

An alternative control system is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this systemthe functions of the control pipe 38 and control hose 45 are combined.Thus, referring to FIG. 7, the control pipe 38 of FIG. is replaced bytwo sections 45a and 45b of control hose, and the control hose 45 ofFIG. 5 is replaced by a plug 50 closing the outlet of the actuationchamber 44 of vent valve 40. Referring to FIG. 8, a three port Tjunction coupling body 51 is mounted on the base plate 19 of the controlhandle and one port thereof is connected to the passageway 11 in thebody 10 of the control handle. One control hose section 45a is connectedbetween the source of high-pressure air and a second port of thecoupling body 51 and the other control hose section 45b is connectedbetween the third port of the coupling body 51 and the actuating chamber37 of the inlet valve 33. As in the system shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, airfrom the high-pressure source (not shown) will be vented from thecontrol system to the atmosphere through the passageway 11 in body 10which is connected to the first port of the coupling body 51 until thelever arm 15 of the control handle is movably operated to plug thepassageway 11 through the body 10 thereof, at which time the controlsystem will be pressurized and the unit actuated.

It will be seen that, even if the nozzle 47 shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 wereplaced on a supporting surface in inverted position from that shown, thecontrol handle could not be inadvertently actuated even by the weight ofthe hose 46 and nozzle 47, since the safety button 25 would preventmovement of the lever arm 15. It has been found that the lever arm maybe subjected to sufficient force under this or similar inadvertentconditions to bend or distort the lever arm 15 without actuating theequipment. On the other hand, once the safety button 25 is pushed in,the control handle may be manually actuated repeatedly or for extendedperiods of time with very little operator'fatigue.

Finally, it has been found that the control handle of this invention isfailure proof under all operating conditions since there are no valveelements to stick or malfunction and all moving parts of the controlhandle are continuously exposed to moving air streams which preventtheaccumulation of foreign bodies thereon. It is believed that personsskilled in the art will find the various embodiments of this inventionto be applicable to a wide variety of equipments which utilizehighpressure air in their operation.

What is claimed is:

l. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment comprising:

a. a solid body forming a first passageway through said body and asecond passageway transverse to said first passageway;

b. means for connecting high-pressure air to one end of said firstpassageway;

c. a lever arm movably mounted on said body and including a sealingportion adapted to be moved by said lever arm into sealing engagementwith the other end of said first passageway;

d. spring means urging said lever arm toward a position in which saidsealing portion of said lever arm is out of sealing engagement with saidother end of said first passageway;

e. pin means received in said second passageway;

f. said pin means being axially movable between a first position inwhich a portion of said pin means projects to a given distance from saidbody and a second position in which said portion of said pin means doesnot project to said given distance from said body;

g. said pin means, said lever arm and said first passageway beingarranged with respect to each other such that said sealing portion ofsaid lever arm cannot be moved into sealing engagement with said otherend of said first passageway when said pin means is in said firstposition; and

h. means urging said pin means toward said first position.

2. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 1 wherein said second passageway intersects said firstpassageway.

3. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 2 wherein said pin means has an enlarged head at one endthereof and retaining means at the other end thereof whereby themovement of said pin means in said second passageway is limited tomovement between said first position and said second position thereof.

4. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 3 wherein said second passageway and said pin means extendthrough said body with said enlarged head and said retaining means onopposite sides of said body.

5. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 4 wherein said means urging said pin means toward said secondposition thereof is air pressure present in said first and secondpassageways and said pin means and second passageway are dimensioned toallow the restricted escape of air from said second passageway.

6. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 3 wherein said lever arm is pivotally mounted on said solidbody adjacent said sealing portion thereof and said lever arm is adaptedto engage the periphery of said enlarged head of said pin means whensaid pin means is in said first position thereof and the free endsurface of said enlarged head when said pin means is in said secondposition thereof.

7. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 1 wherein said means urging said pin means toward said secondposition thereof is air pressure present in said second passageway.

8. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 1 wherein said means for connecting high pressure air to oneend of said first passageway formed by said solid body comprises acoupling body forming a three port passageway therethrough, meansconnecting one of said three ports of said passageway formed by saidcoupling body to said one end of said first passageway formed by saidsolid body and means for connecting high pressure air to another of saidthree ports of said passageway formed by said coupling body.

9. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment comprising:

a. a solid body forming a first passageway through said body and asecond passageway;

b. means for connecting high pressure air to said first passageway;

c. a lever arm mounted on said body for movement between a firstposition and a second position and including means for altering airpressure in said first passageway only when said lever arm is in saidfirst position;

d. means urging said lever arm toward said second position thereof;

e. pin means received in said second passageway and being movable insaid second passageway between a first position in which a'portion ofsaid pin means projects to a given distance from said body and a secondposition in which said portion of said pin means does not project tosaid given distance from said body;

- 10 f. said pin means, said lever arm and said first passageway beingarranged with respect to each other such that said lever arm cannot bemoved from said second position to said first position thereof when saidpin means is in said first position thereof; and

g. means urging said pin means toward said first position thereof. 10. Ahandle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimed inclaim 9 wherein said second 10 passageway intersects said firstpassageway and said means urging said pin means toward said firstposition thereof is the air pressure present in said first and secondpassageways.

1. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment comprising:a. a solid body forming a first passageway through said body and asecond passageway transverse to said first passageway; b. means forconnecting high-pressure air to one end of said first passageway; c. alever arm movably mounted on said body and including a sealing portionadapted to be moved by said lever arm into sealing engagement with theother end of said first passageway; d. spring means urging said leverarm toward a position in which said sealing portion of said lever arm isout of sealing engagement with said other end of said first passageway;e. pin means received in said second passageway; f. said pin means beingaxially movable between a first position in which a portion of said pinmeans projects to a given distance from said body and a second positionin which said portion of said pin means does not project to said givendistance from said body; g. said pin means, said lever arm and saidfirst passageway being arranged with respect to each other such thatsaid sealing portion of said lever arm cannot be moved into sealingengagement with said other end of said first passageway when said pinmeans is in said first position; and h. means urging said pin meanstoward said first position.
 2. A handle for the remote control of airactuated equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second passagewayintersects said first passageway.
 3. A handle for the remote control ofair actuated equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pin means hasan enlarged head at one end thereof and retaining means at the other endthereof whereby the movement of said pin means in said second passagewayis limited to movement between said first position and said secondposition thereof.
 4. A handle for the remote control of air actuatedequipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein said second passageway and saidpin means extend through said body with said enlarged head and saidretaining means on opposite sides of said body.
 5. A handle for theremote control of air actuated equipment as claimed in claim 4 whereinsaid means urging said pin means toward said second position thereof isair pressure present in said first and second passageways and said pinmeans and second passageway are dimensioned to allow the restrictedescape of air from said second passageway.
 6. A handle for the remotecontrol of air actuated equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein saidlever arm is pivotally mounted on said solid body adjacent said sealingportion thereof and said lever arm is adapted to engage the periphery ofsaid enlarged head of said pin means when said pin means is in saidfirst position thereof and the free end surface of said enlarged headwhen said pin means is in said second position thereof.
 7. A handle forthe remote control of air actuated equipment as claimed in claim 1wherein said means urging said pin means toward said second positionthereof is air pressure present in said second passageway.
 8. A handlefor the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimed in claim 1wherein said means for connecting high pressure air to one end of saidfirst passageway formed by said solid body comprises a coupling bodyforming a three port passageway therethrough, means connecting one ofsaid three ports of said passageway formed by said coupling body to saidone end of said first passageway formed by said solid body and means forconnecting high pressure air to another of said three ports of saidpassageway formed by said coupling body.
 9. A handle for the remotecontrol of air actuated equipment comprising: a. a solid body forming afirst passageway through said body and a second passageway; b. means forconnecting high pressure air to said first passageway; c. a lever armmounted on said body for movement between a first position and a secondposition and including means for altering air pressure in said firstpassageway only when said lever arm is in said first position; d. meansurging said lever arm toward said seCond position thereof; e. pin meansreceived in said second passageway and being movable in said secondpassageway between a first position in which a portion of said pin meansprojects to a given distance from said body and a second position inwhich said portion of said pin means does not project to said givendistance from said body; f. said pin means, said lever arm and saidfirst passageway being arranged with respect to each other such thatsaid lever arm cannot be moved from said second position to said firstposition thereof when said pin means is in said first position thereof;and g. means urging said pin means toward said first position thereof.10. A handle for the remote control of air actuated equipment as claimedin claim 9 wherein said second passageway intersects said firstpassageway and said means urging said pin means toward said firstposition thereof is the air pressure present in said first and secondpassageways.